1. Field
The present invention relates generally to communication, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for performing position determination.
2. Background
It is often desirable, and sometimes necessary, to know the position of a wireless device in a network. For example, a wireless user may utilize the wireless device to browse through a website and may click on location sensitive content. The web server may then query the network for the position of the wireless device. The network would initiate location processing with the wireless device in order to perform a position fix and ascertain the position of the wireless device. The network would then return a position estimate for the wireless device to the web server, which uses this position estimate to provide appropriate content to the wireless user. There are many other scenarios in which knowledge of the location of the wireless device is useful or necessary. In the following description, the terms “location” and “position” are synonymous (e.g., the terms “location estimate” and “position estimate” are synonymous) and are used interchangeably.
The network typically implements a specific call flow (which may also be called a message flow or a procedure) for network-initiated position determination. For the call flow, the network may send a message to ask the wireless user for permission to perform the position fix. The wireless user may respond by either granting or denying the request. If the request is granted, then the network and the wireless device perform location processing to obtain a position fix for the wireless device. This location processing may entail (1) invoking a network entity (e.g., a positioning server) designated to handle position determination for the wireless device and/or (2) exchanging messages between this network entity and the wireless device to perform a position fix for the wireless device.
The call flow for the network-initiated position determination is typically performed in its entirety each time the position of the wireless device is queried. For example, if the wireless user clicks on different location sensitive contents, then the position of the wireless device may be queried and the location processing may be performed each time that the location sensitive content is clicked. This may result in inefficient use of system resources.
There is therefore a need in the art for a method and apparatus for efficiently performing position determination.